Happy Father's Day

This week was a very fun and busy week. I worked a lot on training for my upcoming race. I always think it is funny how I start the week with few plans and still end up doing so many things! Soren also slept through the night a couple nights, but has been waking up again since. We spent a lot of time in bathing suits and we topped off the week by celebrating Father's Day.


Monday was one of those days where I really only had 1 goal, swim with Cristina at her work. It ended up being a really really fun day. Linda came over to watch Keira and Soren while I swam, and once I returned, Haley dropped by with Owen and Avery since they were unable to attend Keira's party over the weekend. Keira was very excited to open another present, and we had everyone decorate cookies inside.


Linda and I took the kids out to lunch and the mall before naptime. Then, once Ryan got home, we all headed to Maybury where I ran while Ryan biked. I have been doing most of my running with the stroller to add difficulty to it since I haven't been able to get any more training "bricks" in.


As if we hadn't yet done enough today, we also took the kids up to the complex pool. The water was FREEZING, so we didn't stay long at all, and it was getting close to bedtime.
Soren isn't too sure about what is about to happen.
It was amazing that everyone is smiling in this shot because this was probably the only second that Soren smiled the whole time he was in the pool.

Tuesday was a rather interesting day. We decided to go to the Novi Sports Park, and Keira totally didn't want to go. I knew she would want to go once we were there, so I just put her in the car anyway. When we got there, it was closed for repair! Now, she saw the playground and was bent on playing and so we went to Lakeshore Park instead. It was a bit of a drive going from one to the other, but neither is that far from our house so it was still a good time.



That evening, when Ryan got home, I had my first experience with open water swimming. It was a pretty stressful evening for everyone. I was worried almost all day about it because I knew I wouldn't be able to stop and would have to somehow make it from one side of the lake to the other, and I am not the best swimmer, but I have been practicing in the pool and my training buddies all felt that I would be fine. I am happy to say that I was able to swim across Trout Lake and back, the short direction, for about a total of a half mile. It is .2miles across, but we made a triangle, stopping at the shore in the middle on the way back, to add a bit of distance and a rest. I was super happy about my accomplishment, but the whole experience took MUCH longer than I thought it would, so Ryan was pretty stressed out about how long I had been gone and that he had scouts to get to and wasn't sure if he needed to go send out a search party or just meet me at scouts. Fortunately, the later was the case and I will now be more careful about alerting him when we start late and take a horribly long time to swim a short distance.

On Wednesday, we didn't do much. Today was a rainy and dreary day. We didn't do much outdoors. It didn't rain in the evening, but it looked like it was going to, so we didn't want to head out and get caught in it. I rode my bike on the trainer while watching TV. I did my 12 miles in record setting pace, which meant that I must have either had something set wrong on my computer or on the trainer because I am really only an average biker. Soren is getting good at bear crawling and is starting to crawl for real.
He also LOVES balloons. We seem to have issues we when don't get one for each child. Keira's birthday balloon still has a ton of air in it.
Cuteness and more cuteness


Thurday was an exciting day for Soren! He was able to pull up to a stand on our staircase today. He was pretty funny and got all excited about his accomplishment.

He was being so silly at this point, and then let go. I was really glad I caught him before his head cracked on the floor. Of course, he thought it was hysterical. He is so different from Keira, she would have been in tears.



We also went to Maybury in the evening for another ride/run session. My biking plans with everyone fell through so I ran while Ryan biked and Keira enjoyed the playground afterwards.



Soren is also becoming a fan of teething biscuits. They make the biggest mess, so we may switch him to crackers or something that he can bite and chew instead of suck and slobber on. We also picked up our new crib but didn't really do anything with it today.

On Friday, we realized that our crib did not live up to its expectations. We had thought when we ordered it that we could use it as a daybed/toddler bed without an additional kit because the salesperson at the store was unable to locate a conversion kit part. We learned today (as well as the store employees) that the reason we couldn't find a part for it in the computer was because the manufacturer had not yet developed this part and didn't have it for sale yet. This was quite frustrating, because we had wanted our replacement crib to do everything that our previous crib did so we wouldn't be out any additional money due to the recall, and we were not authorized to buy a conversion kit with our voucher, even if it had enough money to fund it. We spent some time on the phone with Babies R Us, and we felt that we needed some time to think about what we wanted to do and a manager was not there anyway, so we resumed our scheduled plans for the evening. We had another family swim outing to do. This time, Cristina invited us up to Bostford for their monthly family swim event. It was a great time. We swam in the therapy pool which is a toasty 92 degrees. Soren and Keira had a much better time today swimming, and we swam until bedtime, practically. It is a great thing that Bostford is so close to home.



We were also entertained this evening with some CRAZY lightning. Ryan ran out once the kids were in bed and drove through the storm. The lightning was so bright at times it was blinding, and it did wake up Soren in the night, or he just woke up on his own, who knows with him.

Saturday was another busy day. The weather had cleared up nicely so Ryan was able to do his ride with the wolverines. I had to make some last minute preparations for Father's day and buy some new kitchen gadgets and ingredients for the dessert I had planned.

Once Ryan got back, we set out to Babies R Us to get our crib issue resolved. It was resolved much better than we expected. We were concerned because there really weren't many cribs in the store that we liked that didn't require a toddler kit (so we thought), and were concerned we would need to order something online and didn't know how that would work with our voucher. We were pretty sure (and correct) that they wouldn't be able to just "give" us the toddler kit for free, so they had no problem with letting us return the crib. We also learned that one of the in store cribs that I really liked did not require a special kit for the daybed. I had been misinformed by another salesperson who told me I did need one, so we stopped considering it. It was also a very expensive crib, but thanks to a Buy Buy Baby coupon that I received since the initial order, it was able to bring it down within our voucher limit. I had made an attempt to find a coupon before the order, but stopped once I thought I needed another part. We lucked out and they had this crib in stock, so we took it home with us. It would have been nice if the salespeople had their facts straight initially, so we could have just ordered this crib in the first place. The funny thing is that it probably wouldn't have changed the timing much on everything, just eliminated a trip to the store. I am just glad the whole thing is done.

Once we got the crib home and unloaded, I headed back out to Trout Lake to swim with Cristina again. This time, the swim did not go as well as I had hoped. The water was much rougher, so I had trouble with getting splashed in the face while breathing on the right side, which is how I have been training. I pretty much swam across the lake doing the sidestroke to keep my face clear of waves, and then clung to the shoreline on the way back so that I could at least work on my stroke and stop as needed. I am just glad there will be kayaks in the water if I need a break during the race. I am hoping to not need them, but it makes me feel better knowing they are there.

Sunday was Father's Day. We started the day with some cute photos, and then Ryan put together the crib while I got the kitchen ready for breakfast. We enjoyed a BIG breakfast and then got to work on the dessert for the evening.
Soren is excited about his new crib. It is on the middle setting, and I think should be OK for a bit anyway.
At last, Soren is able to sleep in a beautiful crib that is SAFE. This is just naptime, though. We haven't combined them yet overnight.
Keira had to try out the crib too. Soren's cheeks are so wide when he smiles!

We headed straight over to Kris and Linda's after church, and I was able to wish my dad a happy Father's day from there on the phone.

Keira and Soren did not enjoy having their picture taken. They looked pretty funny all mad.


We had a great dinner and finished it off with my key lime bars from the Martha Stewart Cookie cookbook.

Keira also had a great time playing in the pools and water. Soren wasn't feeling it because the water was pretty cold. Keira also had a good time playing with edible finger paints made from pudding and making a picture.




It was such a busy week! This next week will be even busier. I have my first triathlon coming up, both Keira and Soren have a dr's appointment, and we leave for our Ocean Isle, NC vacation. Needless to say, there will be lots of preparing going on, but it should hopefully have pleasing outcomes.